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Dear friends & family,

A few days ago we did it ~ CATALYST applied to the State of Utah for Nonprofit status! This is tremendously exciting. It means that CATALYST has the opportunity to continue to bring you all the inspiration to action that you've come to count on us for as well as transform into the digital age.

To make a tax-deductible contribution, click HERE. From there you will link to our beloved fiscal partner, the Community Foundation of Utah (CFU), which has agreed to work with us while our application is being processed. (You can also mail a check to us directly: CATALYST, 140 S McClelland St, SLC 84102. Make check out to CFU.)

Check out my picks for this week. Click on the cover at left for the December issue. Share this email with a friend. Send me comments.

Happy solstice week,

Greta Belanger deJong
Ed. & Publ, CATALYST


P.S.: Below the events you'll find Sophie's music blog ~ as well as the eternally popular Ralfee Finn horoscopes.
Event picks for
December 17-24

Sustainable Living, Art & Music
monthly gathering 


Thurs, Dec 17, 7pm-2am
Jenk Star Center for Art, and Sustainable Living (CASL), 2225 S 586 E (park on 6th E); north side of TRAX 
$20 (includes elixirs)   
"Building Man in a Bottle." Meet artists, musicians and science wizards. See the Illuminarium, a closed loop living system. Healthy elixirs. Tonight's topics: Why the grid is broken and how to rethink it; the state of Utah's water quality: how the system works and how to get involved; a practical look at acupuncture.  Followed by music to dance to from Eben Flow, Better Homes & Gardens, Matone and SynAesthetic.  Visual art, the ReThink Tank, technology on display.
 
 

Ralph Becker Holiday Bike Ride
 
Fri, Dec 18, 2-3pm
Meet at SLC Main Library
210 E 400 S, east entrance


 
Celebrate Mayor Becker's contribution to bicycling in SLC and take the party to the streets. Think red hats, wreaths, lights, reindeer horns, ugly sweaters and shiny ornaments. (Battery-powered Christmas lights are available at the Dollar Store.) Hot drinks to follow.

UT Blues Society Member Appreciation Party @ The State Room

Fri, Dec 18, 7-10pm
The State Room 
638 S State St
Free
 
 
Proceeds from swag, CDs
and net bar sales benefit Mike Ricks, well-known in blues circles especially from the days of yore, who recently lost his home and most of his belongings in a fire. George T. Gregory Band and more music.
Winter Solstice Celebration @ Dancing Cranes
 
Sat, Dec 19, 2-7:30p.
Dancing Cranes Imports
673 Simpson Ave. 
$15 Single ($20 Day of), $30 Family ($35 Day of). 

Yoga for kids and adults, dinner, kirtan, and tea. 

 
Slow Food Micro-Grant applications workshop & info session  
Sat, Dec 19, 3-5pm
Downtown SLC Library, 210 E 400 S
Free

Slow Food-Utah micro-grants help individuals, non-profit organizations and small businesses create and sustain local food-related projects. This grant-writing workshop is a chance to meet and discuss application deadlines, application requirements, tips for writing a successful grant, suggestions for organizing community partners, etc. SFU grant reviewers and local grant-writing experts will be on hand to help you start your application and refine your ideas.
 
 
 
Winter Farmers Market
Sat, Dec 19, 10am-2pm 
Rio Grande Depot
300 S Rio Grande St (450 W) 
 
  
   
Available this week: Fruit ~ Braeburn, Granny Smith and Fuji apples, figs. Vegetables: carrots, kale, bok choy, shallots, sweet potatoes, winter squash, pumpkins, onions, lettuce, leeks, kohlrabi, potatoes, tomatoes, cabbage, radish, beets, garlic, herbs, micro greens, collard greens. Also:  
yogurt, cheese, beef, pork, lamb, dried beans, Utah trout, sustainably harvested wild seafood, eggs, honey. Gifts & treasures, too! 
 
11th Annual Cocktail Party w/ DJ Flash & Flare
 
Sat, Dec 19, 8pm
The Urban Lounge
241 S 500 E
Free before 10p, $5 after
21+
 
The Urban Lounge presents their 11th annual Cocktail Party with guest performers DJ Flash & Flare. Come get your drink and your boogie on!

Winter Solstice Concert and Candle Lighting Ceremony
Mon, Dec 21, 7pm 
The Inner Light Center, 4408 S 500 E
Free
Music, meditation and candle lighting.
 
 
RemedyWave: Dancing With the Divine (special event fundraiser) 
Tues, Dec 22, 7-9 pm
403 North 300 West
$20
A great place to get your weeknight dance on. This one's a special stillness wave ~ moving from dark to light; and it's also a potluck. Come give, receive, connect, and feel the love. With Shannon Simonelli. Tonight's proceeds donated to a local charity.
Blog Updates 
 
We're in the final stretch of a too-long year and these last two weeks of 2015 unfold with a pace so erratic that even the most experienced marathoner is likely to be gasping for breath midway through the race. Those uninitiated in long-distance running will need to find a comfortable stride that permits a modicum of consistency when managing the regular routines of daily life-multitasking at warp-speed won't be possible, if only because the energy expenditure requires too much effort. It's hard defying gravity when dimensions are bumping into each other...(read more)

 
I can do two things, give you exactly what every other music blog does ~ confirm to you this song, indeed, has a marimba in the background, and that's why it makes you feel like you're under the sea with Sebastian, and that it is a song about the city lights of Los Angeles, where Woolfy lives, and that it was off the Australian pretty-big-deal record label Future Classic (which also is home to Chet Faker, Flume, and Panama), or I can mock that form a little bit and choose not to alienate more than half the readers.  In that spirit of inclusiveness, here are my favorite songs by the three artists I mentioned above...(read more)

Alternatives to Giving Money to Panhandlers

The Downtown Alliance reminds us that, dollar for dollar, donations given to an organization offer better help than when given on the street. Recommended: 

1. Candy Cane Corner (Road Home)-Donate/volunteer HERE. 

2. Toys for Tots - Give HERE. 

3. Quarters for Xmas - Learn more HERE. 

4. SLCGiving.org - Meet the faces of homelessness HERE. 

5. The Road Home - Donate HERE. 

6. Utah Food Bank - Give HERE. 

7. HOST Meters or online - See location HERE. 

8. The Rescue Mission - Learn more HERE. 

9. Dinner at Vinny's - Volunteer to serve or donate HERE. 

10. Volunteers of America (VOA) - Volunteer HERE. 

11. Veterans Affairs (VA) - Get involved HERE. 

12. Fourth Street Clinic - Improve health HERE. 

13. International Rescue Committee (IRC) - Donate HERE. 

From Jim Catano:

Over 100 Utah activists assembled on Saturday morning, December 12 at the Salt Lake City Main Library in solidarity with over 10,000 demonstrators at the COP21 climate talks in Paris. After a short rally led by Ryan Pleune (see Pluene's Salt Lake Tribune guest editorial published on Thursday) the group marched to the Scott Matheson Court House to demand that the Utah State Attorney General's Office follow the lead of New York State in investigating and perhaps prosecuting Exxon Corporation for the 27 years its own scientists have known about the disastrous consequences of fossil-fuel caused climate change but chose to suppress that information and instead have been active in denying the consensus of almost the entire scientific community which has been trying to bring these perils into public awareness.

The group then boarded a TRAX train and headed south to the Murray Exxon service station at 45th South and 5th West where the group lined up behind long red banners and blocked access to the station for 27 minutes symbolic of the 27 years Exxon has been falsifying its own scientific findings and deceiving the public.

Pluene had notified the station management as well as Murray City Police about the action in advance. Officers arrived about half way through the boycott but allowed the activists to complete the protest which concluded without incident.

Fox 13 News and the Salt Lake Tribune had reporters on the scene.  

The group plans more actions and events in the coming months.